A fight has erupted in the United Kingdom over the speech rights of individuals after a candidate for mayor was fired from her post with a housing organization for expressing biblical views on marriage.

The case involving Maureen Martin, 56, from Lewisham, London, is being handled by the Christian Legal Center.

Her lawyers explained she was fired from her post with a housing association, L&Q, for "gross misconduct."

The case apparently is the first of kind to see a political candidate fired from her employer over her Christian faith.

Martin had worked at L&Q as a housing manager for 13 years without a problem. But when she became a candidate from the Christian People's Alliance for mayor she posted her response to a number of issues online.

There Martin, an ordained Christian minister, wrote about marriage: "I pledge to cut through political correctness and simply state the truth that natural marriage between a man and a woman is the fundamental building block for a successful society, and the safest environment for raising children."